Not commenting on the column, just on Gammons.
Next time you open your wallet, take a look at the twenty-dollar bill. Doesn't Peter Gammons look like good old Andrew Jackson?
If Barry Bonds is such a distraction, how come he pulled so many teams so far, in 1990, '91, '92, '93, '97, '98, 2000, 2001…? He comes and plays; in only one full season has he played fewer than 140 games. As my esteemed colleague Jim Caple detailed so well, he is the best left fielder -- ever. He should have five MVPs after this season (Terry Pendleton said as much after '91) and could have six, he has been a Gold Glover, he stole more than 400 bases, he's heading for Willie Mays, who is the greatest player I ever saw, if you'll pardon that since Mays is also my all-time favorite player. It will take awhile for us to decide which record Bonds set is more remarkable -- the home runs or slugging percentage, or the home runs with walks and slugging percentage, not to mention the first .500 on-base percentage since 1957.
To those who obsess on his persona, this man never demanded to stay in a separate hotel, and in his free-agent year when the home run record meant millions in salary and endorsements, never once did he stray from his primary goal of winning. Never once did he start swinging at pitches two inches off the plate looking for the cheap home run. He took, and waited, seemingly hitting every fifth strike out of the park, taking his walks and scoring the runs that kept the Giants in the race in a year in which two of their best starting pitchers had off years, one of the generation's best closers had bad stretches, and the team struggled to fill the void that Ellis Burks' departure created.
Wanna round out the foursome on the road? Get someone other than Barry Bonds. Wanna win? Get Barry. Peter Magowan did before the 1993 season, and it was the greatest free-agent signing ever made, because along with 72 and the other numbers came the best ballpark ever built.
Not commenting on the column, just on Gammons.
Next time you open your wallet, take a look at the twenty-dollar bill. Doesn't Peter Gammons look like good old Andrew Jackson?